FIRST PHASE OF LUNAR EXPLORATION COMPLETED:

Scientist-Astronauts' Dissatisfaction Surfaces

The scientist-astronauts had kept out of the public discussions of
whether pilots or scientists should draw assignments to lunar missions.
But in the year and a half after the first lunar landing they grew
increasingly restive and their discontent became known within NASA. In
January 1971, Associate Administrator Homer Newell spent a day in
Houston, privately hearing two or three scientists at a time air their
grievances. Practically all of them said, in effect, that they could not
keep up their scientific competence under the existing organization and
leadership of the Astronaut Office. Most of them expressed no animosity
toward Deke Slayton; they simply thought his criteria for crew selection
were wrong. He gave no consideration to the scientific activity that
most of them had tried to work into their schedules. Even among the
pilots, proficiency in science seemed unimportant: one nonscientist who
was regarded as the best geology student on his crew was designated
command module pilot and thus would never set foot on the moon. They
were almost all pessimistic about prospects for science on Skylab and
Shuttle unless something was done to change the way crews were selected.
Yet none of them felt that resigning in protest was a good way to change
the system, and none wanted to leave the astronaut corps.69

Newell jotted down a few points after the meetings that he would later
incorporate into a list of recommendations to Administrator James C.
Fletcher: that a change in the method of and responsibility for
selecting crews should be considered; a geologist should be assigned to
a lunar mission as soon as possible; and if feasible, two scientists
should be assigned to each Skylab mission. In addition the training
program should be restructured to allow the scientist-astronauts to give
more attention to their scientific careers.70

After reporting his findings to Fletcher - calling them tentative
because he had heard only one side of the question - Newell discussed
the problem at some length in the following weeks with Dale D. Myers,
associate administrator for manned space flight, and Robert R. Gilruth,
director of MSC. Gilruth's (and Slayton's) view that lunar missions
required the skills of experienced test pilots prevailed. Myers decided
he could not "commit casually to the flight of scientist astronauts on
an Apollo mission": a failure on a lunar flight could mean the end of
manned space flight for a long time. On March 1 Myers advised the
Chairman of the Space Science Board, Charles H. Townes, of the
conclusions he and Gilruth had reached:

NASA should, if possible, fly a geologist on Apollo;

Dr. Harrison H. Schmitt is our geologist candidate;

Flight crews are normally announced after they have worked
together on backup crews, as Jack is now doing on Apollo 15;

If his training continues to progress satisfactorily, . . . and
if all other aspects of crew selection are satisfied, he will be chosen
for Apollo 17;

We will make that decision in the same time frame as for previous
crew selections, which for Apollo 17 will be no earlier than August 1971
(after Apollo 15). I will review our decision with you at that time.71

This was the best Newell could get for the scientist-astronauts. He
continued to work to get two scientists on each Skylab mission, but
without success.72

So Schmitt's place on a lunar landing mission was assured, barring some
highly unlikely occurrence, but the announcement would be another six
months in coming. Meanwhile, a month after Alan Shepard and his crew
returned from Apollo 14, Slayton named the crew for Apollo 16: commander
John W. Young, command module pilot Ken Mattingly, and lunar module
pilot Charles M. Duke, Jr., who had trained together for Apollo 13.
Young had logged more time in space than any other eligible astronaut,* having flown on Gemini III, Gemini
X, and Apollo 10. Mattingly had come within three days of flying on
Apollo 13 but had been taken off for medical reasons [see Chapter 11]. Duke, a member of the third
class of astronauts chosen in 1966, had not yet had a flight assignment.
Veterans Fred Haise, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell made up the backup
crew.73

* Jim Lovell, the record holder for
time in space, was not eligible, having announced before the launch of
Apollo 13 that it would be his last flight.